Cultural Bound syndromes - 1

Cultural Bound Syndromes

Name Group Description
Ataque de Hispanics Out-of-consciousness state resulting from evil spirits.
Nervios Symptoms include attacks of crying, trembling, uncon-
trollable shouting, physical or verbal aggression, and
intense heat in the chest moving to the head. These
ataques are often associated with stressful events (e.g.,
death of a loved one, divorce or separation, or
witnessing an accident including a family member).
Amok, Mal de Malaysians, Laotians, A dissociative disorder involving outburst of violence
Pelea Filipinos, Polynesians, and aggression or homicidal behavior at people and ob-
Papua New Guineans, jects. A minor insult would precipitate this condition.
Puerto Ricans Amnesia, exhaustion, and persecutory ideas are often
associated with this syndrome.
Brain Fag African Americans Problems with concentration and thinking among high
school and university students experiencing the chal-
lenges of schooling. Symptoms include head and neck
pain, blurring of vision, burning and heat resembling
Somatoform, Depressive, and Anxiety Disorder
Boufee Haitians Sudden outburst of aggression, agitation associated
Delirante with confusion, psychomotor excitement, and symp-
toms resembling Brief Psychotic Disorder (including
visual and auditory hallucinations, paranoid ideation).
Colera Hispanics Anger and rage disturbing body balances leading to
headache, screaming, stomach pain, loss of conscious-
ness, and fatigue.
Dhat East Indians, Chinese, Extreme anxiety associated with sense of weakness,
Sri Lankans exhaustion, and the discharge of semen.

Dissociative Anglo-Americans This disorder is considered a culture-specific syndrome

Identity because it primarily occurs in persons holding a
"modern" set of cultural schemas. It involves the pre-
Disorder (1) sence of two or more identities where at least two
recurrently take control of the person's behavior.
Falling Out African Americans Seizurelike symptoms resulting from traumatic events,
such as robberies.
Ghost Sickness American Indians Weakness, dizziness, fainting, anxiety, hallucinations,
confusion, and loss of appetite resulting from the action
of witches and evil forces.
Hwa-byung Asians Pain in the upper abdomen, fear of death, tiredness
resulting from the imbalance between reality and anger.
Koro Asians A man's desire to grasp his penis (in a woman, the
vulva and nipples) resulting from fear that it will retract
into the body and cause death.
Cultural Bound Syndromes - 2

Name Group Description

Latah Asians A sudden fright resulting in imitative behaviors that
appear beyond control, including imitation of move-
ments and speech; the individual often follows com-
mands to do things outside his or her wish (e.g., verbal
repetition of obscenities).
Mal de ojo Hispanics Medical problems, such as vomiting, fever, diarrhea,
and mental problems (e.g., anxiety, depression), could
result from the mal de ojo (evil eye) the individual
experienced from another person. The condition is com-
mon among infants and children; adults might also
experience similar symptoms resulting from this mal de
ojo.
Mal puesto, African Americans, Unnatural diseases and death resulting from the power
hex, root work, Hispanics of people who use evil spirits.
voodoo death
Ode-ori Nigerians Sensation of parasites crawling in the head, feelings of
heat in the head, paranoid fears of malevolent attacks
by evil spirits.
Pibloktog Arctic and subarctic Excitement, coma, and convulsive seizures resembling
Inuit an abrupt dissociative episode, often associated with
amnesia, withdrawal, irritability, and irrational behav-
iors, such as breaking furniture, eating feces, and ver-
balization of obscenities.
Susto, Miedo, Hispanics Tiredness and weakness resulting from frightening and
espanto, pasmo startling experiences.

Taijin kyofusho Asians Guilt about embarrassing others, timidity resulting from
the feeling that the appearance, odor, facial expres-
sions are offensive to other people.
Wacinko American Indians Feeling of anger, withdrawal, mutism, suicide from
reaction to disappointment and interpersonal problems.
Wind or Cold Hispanics, Asians A fear of cold and the wind; feeling weakness and
Illness susceptibility to illness resulting from the belief that
natural and supernatural elements are not balanced.

(1) Dissociative Identity Disorder is not recognized as a cultural-bound syndrome in DSM-IV although it was suggested that it might be a cultural
syndrome due to the “recent relatively high rates of the disorder reported in the United States.” (DSM-IV, 1994, p. 485)

Modified from Paniagua, F.A. (2000). Culture-bound syndromes, cultural variations, and psychopathology, in I.
Cuéllar & F.A. Paniagua, Eds., Handbook of multicultural mental health: Assessment and treatment of diverse
populations (pp. 140-141). New York: Academic Press.